Canucks mailbag: Troy Stecher’s future, trade targets, more

In this edition of the Vancouver Canucks mailbag, we look at Troy Stecher’s future, potential trade targets and more.

The Vancouver Canucks have dropped six of their last seven games, but they’re sitting third in the Pacific Division with a 10-7-4 record — just five points behind the top-seeded Edmonton Oilers.

Vancouver now embarks on a difficult six-game road trip, which begins on Tuesday night against the surging Dallas Stars. Travis Green and company won’t play a home game again until Dec. 1, when Connor McDavid and the Oilers come to town.

With the team slumping, some fans can’t help but wonder if general manager Jim Benning will look to make a trade soon. Could that include parting ways with blueliner Troy Stecher, who’s in the final year of his contract?

And with the Canucks slumping, does head coach Travis Green need to start cutting back on the ice time of his veterans, while giving the younger players more opportunity?

These are the topics that we’ll discuss in this week’s mailbag. So let’s get right to it.

Among all Canuck skaters, Alexander Edler is averaging the most ice time per game (25 minutes on the dot). His 14 points place Edler in a tie for fifth-most on the team, and the 33-year-old has a superb 54.1 Corsi For percentage.

So as you can see, coach Green has good reason to give Edler the most ice time. That said, he turns 34 in April, and we can’t ignore his injury history. If I’m coach Green, I’d start cutting Edler’s ice time around January, because the Canucks will need him fresh for the second half, during a tight push for the playoffs.

As for Bo Horvat (19:49 average time on ice), he’s only getting better both offensively and defensively, with 15 points in 21 games. If anything else, I’d argue that Horvat should get more ice time down the stretch, because he’s simply their most complete two-way player. Doing this would also keep Elias Pettersson more fresh as the season progresses.

Well, I’m certainly not breaking up the “Lotto Line.” I like what Jake Virtanen has done with Horvat, so I’d keep him on line two. I would like to see Micheal Ferland get another chance to prove his worth on Horvat’s line once he returns, meaning Tanner Pearson should move to line three with Adam Gaudette and Josh Leivo.

Now comes the difficult part. The Canucks are running out of roster space for their fourth line. I’m expecting Loui Eriksson to be a healthy scratch, and Sven Baertschi is likely going back to the Utica Comets.

I’d like the Canucks to try and find room for Brandon Sutter, Jay Beagle and Antoine Roussel in the bottom six when they’re all healthy. In this scenario, I’d move Sutter to the wing. That’s easier said than done, of course. Benning has to move out a couple of bodies, but this is my dream lineup.

Stecher’s name has come up a handful of times in the trade rumor mill. And even though he’s a fan favorite and valuable part of the blue line, I’m having a tough envisioning a scenario where he’ll stay long-term.

Benning left the Canucks with very little cap space after his offseason spending spree. In my opinion, Stecher could earn up to $4 million annually from a new team. Vancouver can’t pay that, nor should they, given how deep their blue line is right now.

Unless Stecher is willing to take a big hometown discount (and he deserves to be paid what he’s worth), I’m guessing cap problems will force Benning to trade him after this season.

As tempted as Benning may be to make a trade at the deadline, I just don’t see how he can make it work. The Canucks have way too many forwards up front, and as mentioned above, they’re right up against the cap. But if Benning can work his magic, maybe Vancouver will be able to make one splash at the deadline.

This is merely speculation, but I think the Canucks should take a look at veteran wingers like Chris Kreider and Tyler Toffoli. Both are veteran 20-goal scorers on expiring contracts, and they play for rebuilding teams that need to stock up draft picks. So Vancouver probably wouldn’t have to pay too much to acquire either of those guys.

Other than that, I’m not seeing any other notable trade candidates that the the Canucks could afford, without giving up a hefty price.